Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

i believe it’s pretty common knowledge that paul mccartney’s rickenbacker 4001s was unfinished throughout all of the 70s (or maybe just until 1976, because i’ve heard that when he sent it to rickenbacker they put a sealer coat on the bass), but wouldn’t a main concern about leaving a guitar unfinish...

i meant the initial finish of cream, that was probably given around 1970.

if it’s been refinished over the years, then what was the initial finish? does anyone know that? i know that at that time, poly was sort of a new thing for finishes. and conversion varnish is notoriously hard to deal with.

whatever finish the guy in london sprayed onto chris squire’s rm1999 that fateful day in 1970, that thing hasn’t aged a day. no cracking, no flaking, no discoloration, i haven’t seen any of it. what in the world did they use on the bass? state of the art poly? conversion varnish? definitely isn’t ni...

another thing i’ve noticed is that the discoloration is only the single ply portion of the checkerboard binding. the strip of white and black blocks is still white, or whiter than the yellowish binding strip above it.

from sweetwater, though of course i didn’t get the bass from them in this exact condition. this must have been shot in december 2020.

here’s a few more pics. also, pics of the original bass from its sweetwater photo shoot when it was new. (next post)

i got this used very very recently

this is a december 2020 satin mapleglo model, with the checkerboard binding. unlike every picture ive seen of these models, the binding is yellowed and notably in some parts more than others. i just think it’s kinda annoying. is there a way to make it unyellowed? is it the upper finish that’s causin...